v., swung (swŭng), swing·ing, swings. v.intr.
- To move back and forth suspended or as if suspended from above.
- To hit at something with a sweeping motion of the arm: swung at the ball.
- To move laterally or in a curve: The car swung over to the curb.
- To turn in place on or as if on a hinge or pivot.
- To move along with an easy, swaying gait: swinging down the road.
- To propel oneself from one place or position to another by grasping a fixed support: swinging through the trees.
- To ride on a swing.
- To shift from one attitude, interest, condition, or emotion to another; vacillate.
- Slang. To be put to death by hanging.
- Music.
- To have a subtle, intuitively felt rhythm or sense of rhythm.
- To play with a subtle, intuitively felt sense of rhythm.
- Slang.
- To be lively, trendy, and exciting.
- To engage freely in promiscuous sex.
- To exchange sex partners. Used especially of married couples.
- To have a sexual orientation toward one or both sexes.
- To cause to move back and forth, as on a swing.
- To cause to move in a broad arc or curve: swing a bat; swung the car over.
- To cause to move with a sweeping motion: swinging his arms.
- To lift and convey with a sweeping motion: swung the cargo onto the deck.
- To suspend so as to sway or turn freely: swung a hammock between two trees.
- To suspend on hinges: swing a shutter.
- To cause to turn on hinges: swung the door shut.
- To cause to shift from one attitude, position, opinion, or condition to another.
- Informal.
- To manage or arrange successfully: swing a deal.
- To bring around to the desired result: swing an election.
- Music. To play (music) with a subtle, intuitively felt sense of rhythm.
- The act or an instance of swinging; movement back and forth or in one particular direction.
- The sweep or scope of something that swings: The pendulum's swing is 12 inches.
- A blow or stroke executed with a sweeping motion of the arm.
- The manner in which one swings something, such as a bat or golf club.
- A shift from one attitude, position, or condition to another: a swing to conservatism.
- Freedom of action: The children have free swing in deciding what color to paint their room.
- A swaying, graceful motion: has a swing to her walk.
- A sweep back and forth: the swing of a bird across the sky.
- A course or tour that returns to the starting point: a swing across the state while campaigning.
- A seat suspended from above, as by ropes, on which one can ride back and forth for recreation.
- The normal rhythm of life or pace of activities: back in the swing.
- A steady, vigorous rhythm or movement, as in verse.
- A regular movement up or down, as in stock prices.
- Music.
- A type of popular dance music developed about 1935 and based on jazz but employing a larger band, less improvisation, and simpler harmonic and rhythmic patterns.
- A ballroom dance performed to this music.
- A subtle, intuitively felt rhythmic quality or sense of rhythm.
- Music. Relating to or performing swing: a swing band.
- Determining an outcome; decisive: the swing vote.
in full swing
- At the highest level of activity or operation.
[Middle English swingen, to beat, brandish, from Old English swingan, to flog, strike, swing.]
swingy swing'y adj.SYNONYMS swing, oscillate, sway, rock, vibrate, fluctuate, undulate, waver. These verbs mean to move back and forth, up and down, or to and fro: Swing usually applies to arclike movement of something attached at one extremity and free at the other: The ship's lanterns swung violently in the raging storm. Oscillate literally refers to a steady back-and-forth motion, as that of a pendulum; figuratively, it denotes vacillation, as between conflicting purposes: “a king … oscillating between fear of Rome and desire of independence” (Walter Besant). Sway suggests the movement of something unsteady, light, or flexible: “thousands of the little yellow blossoms all swaying to the light wind” (W.H. Hudson). To rock is to swing gently or rhythmically or sway or tilt violently: “The ruins of the ancient church seemed actually to rock and threaten to fall” (Sir Walter Scott). Vibrate implies quick periodic oscillations; it can also suggest trembling, pulsating, or quivering: “Music, when soft voices die,/Vibrates in the memory” (Percy Bysshe Shelley). Fluctuate implies fairly constant alternating change: “Prices fluctuated violently from the irregularity of the crops” (Lesley B. Simpson). Undulate refers to smooth wavelike movement: “gleaming seaweed that curls and undulates with the tide” (Willa Cather). Waver suggests unsteady, uncertain movement: A police officer stopped the driver who was wavering from lane to lane.
